


Meet n' Greet in the Street

by Skylar_Matthews



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-25
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2017-12-30 09:55:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1017200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar_Matthews/pseuds/Skylar_Matthews
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Jazz gets caught up in a murder case." Title courtesy of my friend I'm writing this with. Enter at your own risk because we've got some crazy things planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So my friend who goes by Usagi came to me one day a few months ago with the idea "Jazz gets caught up in a murder case" which became this story shortly after. We're still working on it (along with about 6 other fics) but this section and the next (still needs editing) have been sitting on my computer for two months at least waiting to be posted and since my muses decided to up and vanish in the middle of chapters for three different stories I figure it's a good enough time to start posting stuff Usagi and I wrote together.

"Don't have too much fun, Jazz." That was the last thing the manager said before tossing him the keys to Maccadam's, the only club in the area still brave enough to stay open despite the brewings of war and turmoil gripping most of Cybertron.

"You got it boss," the black and white bot replied nodding slightly. "See ya tomorrow."

As soon as the door to the employee entrance was closed the mech broke into a huge smile. Finally being trusted to run the place by himself this was great! This was beyond great! it was-

"Hey! Where’s my high grade?" Going to be a terrible start to the night if he couldn't keep the club patrons happy. 

" 'm gettin' it already hold on."

_____________

The night had gone pretty close to flawless by the time he locked the front doors; just another night at the club. It had been quiet the last hour which had given Jazz more than enough time to finish most of the cleaning and organizing. He practically danced to the back entrance of the club, joyful at a job well done and the prospect of promotion.

He punched the security code in the alarm before backing out the exit, taking in the sights of a night well accomplished. The happy feeling didn't last long though. Barely five steps from the club's back door, hunched against the wall of the neighboring building, was a mech who looked to be in very poor shape. Probably too much high grade.

"Hey mech you alright?" Without much of a thought the black and white mech rushed to be of assistance to the stranger, reaching out to help the other to stand. It wasn't soon after trying to grab onto the fallen mech that Jazz finally noticed just how wrong the situation was. He'd dealt with passed out mechs before, but this just wasn't right.

He recoiled from the other, finally realizing this mech was covered in Energon. "Yo, you with me?" He tried again, working to sprawl the unknown mech on the ground to get a better look, refusing to believe this mech to be dead. "You gotta wake up, you need a medic. C'mon wake up." He was starting to panic. This... This wasn't something he'd dealt with before.

He hadn't known someone else had decided to take that same alleyway to some unknown destination, not until this mystery femme scared him half to death with a loud scream. She only stayed long enough to see him covered in Energon, hovering over a corpse.

"Frag, I'm gettin' fired for sure." With all the sudden unwanted excitement, he could only manage to process enough to focus on the most trivial part of the night, not ready to work through just how bad the situation could turn out.

_________________

The femme, who had left in quite a hurry, was making quite a ruckus of herself shouting and screaming. Switching between "Help! Help!" and "Someone's been killed!" How could that not be a good way to get the attention of law enforcement?

Prowl was nearly finished with a mostly uneventful shift and was headed back to the station after a final patrol sweep when he nearly hit said femme, who had suddenly rushed out into the middle of the street, shouting all the while. He swerved to avoid her and quickly shifted forms. Something in his actions caught her attention and she moved beside him like there was a magnetic charge. However she remained at least as hysterical, if not more so, especially through his attempts to calm her. Dealing with others was never his forte, particularly when intense emotions were involved.

Eventually, after a quick comm to his partner that he would be late returning due to having potentially found a case, he managed to coax enough information from her to piece together there had been a horrible crime. Her directions were sketchy, but he managed to gather one name that was enough of a landmark to be a starting point.

His partner arrived shortly after that and they traded witness watching duty so Prowl could follow what little lead she gave. It was their long perfected system as Prowl was hardly an easy bot to open up to but his case work was outright impeccable.

____________________

Prowl rounded the turn onto the last street before Maccadam's and slowed so he didn't miss anything. It was good he did too as he caught a flash of unusual movement in the alley behind the club. Moving slowly, he drew his weapon, just in case, and started into the alley. Even if the killer wasn't still around there were plenty of other potential problems, not even counting the extra crime the starting war had kicked up.

"By the power of the state and Enforcers, I order you to show yourself."

______________________

Jazz didn’t have much time from the femme’s departure to try to figure out his next move. Most of his decisions boiled down to stay or run, neither of which sounded all too great. With most of his processor seeming to yell ‘run’ the mech happily obliged long enough to flee from the immediate vicinity of the scene. He’d just managed obscure himself from view before another was upon the scene.

Yup, an enforcer, great. This wasn’t unexpected, just unwanted. This was what finally drove him to leave. It wasn’t worth it to expose himself, even if he was innocent, he had too much going for him finally.

Jazz knew these streets inside and out, if he didn’t want to be caught he wouldn’t be caught… Normally. But normally he wasn’t covered in slick, slippery energon. Normally he would have caught that window ledge he had sprung to. He would have climbed up the ledge, balanced on the overhang, and silently disappeared into the night. This time just had to be different though. This time he couldn’t grasp onto that Primus forsaken ledge, and this time he managed to fall gracelessly to the pavement below, at least having the coordination to land on his feet.

He looked up quickly, gaze locking with the investigating officer, pausing only momentarily before throwing his arm up to try to avoid being shot. “Dude, this is all just a misunderstandin’.” It was difficult to keep his voice level but the best option now seemed to be the only option, try not to get himself shot. “I didn’t do nothing. I swear.”

Protocol dictated that when a suspect attempted to flee they may be shot if it is the easiest method to incapacitate them, but something held Prowl's hand this time. He was noticing that particular abnormality right as the other mech fell back to the ground. Masking his surprise, Prowl moved forward as the other spoke.

"I'll be the judge of your guilt once you've told your whole story," he replied, only half noting what was even said towards him. "Turn around put both arms behind you."

It possibly wasn't entirely necessary to cuff him while searching for any other suspects but one could never be too careful and he had already made an attempt to evade questioning. This case was already interesting though, and Prowl hadn't even seen the body to prove there was a case yet.

Jazz didn’t hesitate to follow instructions, trying to be on his best behavior, even as various methods of incapacitating the other ran through his processor. It wouldn’t have been too difficult with the window of opportunity he was given. But he didn’t... Not for any real reason. He just didn’t. Something seemed to tell him that if he wanted any chance of clearing his name he’d have to stay on this mech's good side.

“I don’t have much of a story ta tell.” He started, looking at the ground to clear his processor. “I was just closing down the club I work at, an' I walk out an' I see this guy jus' layin' there.” He paused slightly, looking over towards the alley that led to the corpse. “I thought he was asleep. Tried to wake ‘im up to go home.

“Didn’t know until I got ahold of him, he was covered in Energon. Dunno who had it out fer him, but they knew how to make sure he was dead.” He hadn’t stopped to consider how bad it looked for him to describe the details he had gathered from the murder victim. “Someone cut clean through his lines, he wouldn’ta lived even if someone found ‘im before he died.”

Prowl eyed him for a moment before speaking. It was both more and less information than he'd expected to receive and that alone was curious. And curious was almost never a good thing connected to a possible murder. It was not in his best interest to question the curiosities of the statements, lest the other possibly decide to change his statement later to retract information, but he couldn't help asking.

"You seem to know a considerable amount about how mechs die for one who is clearly no medic." There was only the slightest inflection at the end to make it into a question rather than a statement.

“I wasn’t lucky enough to live in the nice part ‘a town.” The comment was about as deadpan as he ever got, but it didn’t last long. “But I’m bein’ honest when I say I don’t know anythin’. I’m jus’ a bartender.” 

Maybe he should have just tried to get away, at this point everything he said felt like trying to claw out of a deep hole and only managing to fall in further. “How ‘bout I jus’ let you find ‘yer own conclusions. I got nothin’ I can tell ya that’ll help.” It seemed best to admit temporary defeat now instead of getting himself buried too deep. Maybe this way he could somehow manage to not get taken in. One look at his previous records and things would just go downhill.

Well the officer couldn't exactly argue that first point, not that anywhere was all that nice anymore but some areas were still much worse than others. Besides, there was something about the other mech that made Prowl believe he might actually be innocent. His partner would tease him mercilessly about "finally trusting his gut instinct" but he couldn't shake the sense even though there was no reasoning for it.

"Stay right here," he ordered. It went against procedure but Prowl did have to examine the crime scene and it would be easier without another body in his way. And yes, his partner would definitely tease him for trusting a suspect this easily.

The black and white bot moved to salute, before the tug on his wrists reminded him of the cuffs he was wearing. In lieu of that he settled for a simple, “yes sir.” He waited until the other was out of sight before setting to the task of removing the nice new bracelets he’d been gifted. Soon enough they fell to the ground with a clank. With that taken care of he located a wall semi-protected from the elements and, with a wince of disgust, used what Energon on himself that was still wet enough to write a short note.

“Had 2 go talk later.”

Then, with the finesse he had aimed for earlier, the mech disappeared into the night, keeping himself well hidden he tracked the officer down, settling close enough to watch him without risk of being seen.

_______________

In short order Prowl had catalogued the location of the body as well as scanned for any further obvious evidence, all according to protocol. He also made a trek to the far end of the alleyway, which turned out to be a dead end, but that yielded no noticeable clues either. All that was left now was to wait on on the arrival of the specialized 'sweeper' units to go over the alley, and keep an eye on his suspect of course.

Prowl didn't even make it back before knowing that he wouldn't find the other where he left him. There's no reason he should know that but it comes as no surprise to find the cuffs on the ground. The message on the wall though, which he didn't notice until he picked up the cuffs, that he hadn't expected. There is a moment of amusement at this mech's audacity before the annoyance settles back in.

Trading the cuffs for a cleaning cloth in his subspace, the officer quickly wiped away all trace of the message in blood. He told himself it was to prevent the case being thrown off and shoved away the nagging whisper saying that's not really why he did it. As he put away the cloth his optics scanned across the area in a wide sweep, curious if the other mech was still around while being absolutely certain he wouldn't notice him even if he is. Prowl is just about to start a second look around the area when his commander shows up.

It had taken far too long for forensics to get together, further irritating the already grumpy head of the Iacon division. The large, old mech barked a few orders to his team to create a perimeter once they had mobilized before rushing past them to find the investigating officer on scene.

“Found yourself a good mess this time.”

The commanding officer greeted the aforementioned mech, pulling up to the alleyway before transforming from vehicle mode and approaching the doorwinged bot. “Have any leads to report?” The tone of voice made it obvious that he didn’t want to waste any more time than absolutely necessary.

Prowl hesitated just a moment in indecision before he found himself answering. "I found nothing at the scene of the crime that seemed to hold any significance, however there is still the matter of our witness; the femme who led us here. In the short time I spent with her before my partner arrived she did mumble something once about a "crazed mech" though I heard no more on the subject before coming to secure the crime scene."

It was a risk mentioning that detail because it could potentially conflict with the fact he hadn't mentioned the mech he had found there, but a risk worth it in case she had seen another mech. It could be argued that the mystery mech - he definitely needed to find out his name at some point - was there trying to help if she had seen him. In any case, they needed some kind of lead and Prowl couldn't rightly keep any information hidden. At least, he really shouldn't.

“She is being questioned currently,“ the large mech affirmed, taking one last look around the scene before sighing. “There isn’t anything else you can do tonight.” He started clasping the officer on the shoulder for a brief moment. “Take some time to recharge, then report back to me. We don’t have the mech power to spare so I’m assigning you lead on this case.”

He started to walk away before pausing. “Prowl, don’t let this guy get away. This city needs some good news for once.” After that he left to go back to where the forensic team was working, leaving the black and white mech alone… Or seemingly so.

"Understood," Prowl responded as his commander walked off.

And then he was alone. Or should have been. He wasn't usually the paranoid type but in this job you don't last long without a healthy dose of wariness. Much as he liked the idea of heading home to rest, there was a chance the mystery mech -and he really needs to stop thinking of him like the character out of some cliche romance datapad for fembots- was still around and might follow him. He was rather sure he could take him if it came to a fight but he'd rather not have his address known to someone who might be a murder suspect.

Giving a soft sigh that he hoped sounded tired, rather than the annoyed that he felt, Prowl exited the alleyway completely then shifted forms and started driving off. He had to make this some sort of challenge so the trip home would have to take at least twice as long.

_______________

After an excruciatingly long time in an excruciatingly difficult crouch on an excruciatingly narrow beam, the hidden mech was more than happy to see the alleyway he had been watching become vacant. Once the mech he had been spying on was out of sight he moved quickly, ignoring the protest of his joints. ‘I’ve gone soft’ he thought to himself humorously, allowing his instincts to guide him as he ascended to the roof of the building he’d been closest to.

He made it in time to watch the other transform and drive off. “Don’t make it too easy now.” He sighed, starting off after the retreating figure, trying to keep up with him while running on the roof tops to stay hidden. It was becoming clear that this tactic wouldn’t work so the first opportunity he found he took to slide down to the ground, bracing himself on a metal pole to slow his descent before landing in a roll, transforming, and taking off after the target of his pursuit.

It wasn’t so easy to stay hidden on the road, but he tried to keep a few other’s between him and… Whatever the hell the officer called himself. Apparently proper introductions were in order soon.

Prowl kept an eye on the road behind him casually as he made his way "home" and for a while it seemed like his irrational concern about being followed was just that; irrational. About halfway between his home and the crime scene he was thinking about ditching the rambling path and heading straight to his destination when something caught his optic.

A couple bots behind was one in what seemed to be white and black though it was too dark to be entirely sure. He was no Enforcer though, the colors were wrong and there was no law against others wearing the colors so long as they didn't use the Enforcer color pattern. He wasn't doing anything illegal either, nothing to draw attention to himself at all. Prowl knew he hadn't been following him the whole way; he'd seen him when he joined the line of traffic only a couple blocks ago, but the other bot never seemed to get any closer to him. There was always at least two other mechs between them. It wasn't much but Prowl decided to check it out anyway.

He started looking for a good spot to pull over when he noticed a sign for the inter-city road. He hadn't realized he'd lead them so close to the edge of town but this would work. He wanted to get behind the other mech and intercities' driving rules worked even better than pulling over for that.

Signalling, he turned onto the intercity road.

By the time the other mech had turned onto the intercity road there wasn’t enough time to plan a way of keeping inconspicuous enough to keep following him, but that wouldn’t be hardly enough to deter Jazz. Instead of simply following the officer, which would be far too suspicious, the spry mech slowed down as much as he could without causing an accident and transformed, using his momentum to clear the bridge over the road the other was pulling on to and land on said road before transforming back and reversing into a nearby parking space at record speed.

After that, highly illegal, feat the black and white mech had to take some time to calm himself down, trying not to let the rush of what he’d just managed get the best of him. There was still a chance he would be caught, but with any luck he’d managed to pull all that off in time to not be seen… Though he wasn’t feeling very lucky after everything else that had happened.

____________________

Normally the officer would have kept a better watch on his possible tail.

Normally there was no traffic this late -or would it be early now?- in the night.

Normally he didn't have to focus on merging into traffic and not getting run over by a massive carrier-car barreling down the road.

But normal hadn't applied to this night ever since that femme ran out into the street so he shouldn't have been surprised to look back after managing to slip between two carriers going speeds that were just under the legal limit and find nothing. He ran a quick sweep of the other road and didn't find the other bot driving on it either. More than a little confused now, Prowl continued on the intercity until the last exit before, albeit slightly hesitant, taking the exit and returning to the city streets.

Paranoia was not something he generally fell victim to but he managed to convince himself that's all the supposed tail was. Thankfully he happened to be slightly closer to his home than before getting on the intercity and feeling confident enough that he had only imagined being followed, the Enforcer took the most direct route he could home. He could nearly hear the recharge berth calling his name.

_____________

It didn’t take Jazz too much time to collect himself before getting back on the road, having to make up for lost time to catch up with his target. He’d just managed to catch up enough to see the mech in question turn off into the city. Hopefully that meant this chase was almost to its end.

He tried to play it as safe as possible whilst continuing the pursuit. All possible advantage would be lost if he was caught now. He again found somewhere to hide when his so-called target had apparently reached his destination. This spot being yet another alleyway -maybe those should avoided from now on.

It didn’t take long for the question of “what now?” to pop up in his processor. This entire plan wasn’t all too thought out to begin with. So what now? Was the whole plan to make a house call? “Hi yeah, so I’ve been following ya for a while lets go back to your place and have a nice talk.” Oh yeah, that would go over so well.

No other idea seemed to work out, other than doing yet another illegal thing and breaking into the officer’s residence. It would be the easiest way, maybe gather a little intel on who this mech was before confronting him, as well as map out any possible escape routes. Yep, seemed like the best plan so far, turn a rather creepy situation even creepier. Maybe an apology would help some.

_______________

Having finally convinced himself it was all his imagination, Prowl pulled up to the building the housed his apartment and transformed. As he approached the front entrance he got the sense again of being watched but very purposefully ignored it. He did make sure to lock the front door when he got inside but that was only common sense. Generally he took a quick sweep around the place to be sure all windows were locked but tonight he was just tired enough to trust his own memory of not opening any. And with that decided he headed off to recharge.

________________

As soon as the other bot was out of view Jazz was on the move again, not wanting to waste the chance to figure out exactly what part of the building the officer was residing in. As luck would have it, he managed to pick the right side of the building to survey, made obvious by the only window that wasn’t completely dark in the back corner. After that, it was just trying to bide time until the other was recharging, which, thankfully didn’t seem to take too long at all.

After everything had been dark and silent long enough for him to convince himself it was safe to enter, the black and while bot set about the task of actually getting into the apartment. Without the right tools to try to break in properly he had to substitute with some metal who-knows-what-it-once-was that had been discarded in the trash, conveniently located at the back of the apartments. Although after quite some time at working on the window trying to unlock it, it seemed obvious that somehow it just wouldn’t budge. Well this was all wasted effort… Unless.

“Ya gotta be kidding me.” He whispered, as the already unlocked window slid open effortlessly. 

With that task finished the mech fit himself through the window as noiselessly as possible, pausing for a moment to figure out his surroundings, as well as make sure he hadn’t disturbed the other’s recharge. Nope, only silence.

Unfortunately after everything that had happened, almost all bravery had been sapped from him, and there was no way he was going to risk poking around this strangers apartment and possibly get shot if he made too much noise. No, he had all the advantage currently and… Well.. Actually, what was there to do? He couldn’t risk trying to disable anything on the officer, in case that brought him out of recharge. It was too bad he left the cuffs back in the alley, they might’ve come in handy.

Finally he decided to go with option 3, hold the other mech down until he could convince the other not to kill him on sight, which in the night of awkwardness had to be the worst idea yet. Without wasting any more time to lose resolve Jazz pounced on the enforcer, making sure to grab onto his wrists to keep him pinned down. “Ok, if yer awake, I’m sorry, but I need ta talk to you without getting shot in the face. Promise not ta kill me?”

Prowl wasn't the sort to have overly interesting recharge dreams, something about a lack of pure creativity, but the most common cause was an overclocked processor when falling into recharge. He had even had a fair share of those over his life. So when he 'woke' to the mech from the alley straddling him, Prowl simply immediately set a mental thread to focusing on determining what his subconscious was trying to tell him he missed in their meeting.

Seeing no reason to argue with his own mind, Prowl answered the question with a tentative affirmative before responding with his own. "And what exactly do we need to talk about?"

“Umm…” Jazz wasn’t expecting that sort of nonchalant complacency and everything that had been rehearsed was thrown out in confusion.

“Well I figure now that I’m all wrapped up in this mess it’s only right if I help ya try to find the real killer. Clear my name or somethin’. To be honest I might know a bit more than I was lettin’ on.”

There was just something not quite right about it all so Jazz was reluctant to move, wondering if it was the other’s plan to talk him into a false sense of security. As a test of this idea he loosened his grip on the other mech’s wrists.

Well that wasn't what Prowl had been expecting, yet at the same time it made sense. Supposing the other had wanted to do anything worse he would have attacked already. That might also have been why the message was left on the wall. It's at this point Prowl notices the pressure on his wrists has lessened and chastises himself for not paying better attention to his surroundings, even in a dream.

"You can get off now. I'm not going to attack you and this is a rather uncomfortable position." And wasn't that something? Supposedly one couldn't feel anything akin to pain while dreaming.

Wordlessly he obliged, trying not to feel too flustered at the whole situation. It took a lot to embarrass the normally easy going mech, but this… this... whatever-his-name-was seemed to have a knack for throwing him off his groove.

“Sorry.” There really wasn’t anything else he could think to say. “Ya got any energon in this place? I haven’t had anythin’ in a while.” It was an offhand thought that he didn’t mean to voice, but getting anywhere other than the room they were currently in seemed a lot better, and energon sounded really good at the moment… Maybe make it high grade… A lot of high grade… To just forget this whole thing.

That was certainly an odd request, Prowl mused as he moved into a sitting position. As he gave it thought however, the request made sense. He hadn't bothered to refuel after work, too exhausted to do anything more, so naturally his subconscious would suggest refueling. And while it was illogical to expect any help from Energon currently, it would do well to acknowledge his own mind's desires in order to find out what else he hadn't knowingly noticed at the crime scene. Obligingly, he stood and gestured for the other to follow.

Jazz followed after for a few steps before pausing. Something just didn't seem right. Not in the slightest. There was no way this mech could be so mellow right? It had to be a trap.

"What're you actually planin?" He accused, before, for a second time that night, pouncing on the other monochrome mech, pushing them both to the floor with a thud. "Out with it, I'm done playin around tonight."

Prowl had no chance to even consider the sudden question before he was knocked to the ground, ending up once again beneath the other mech. A sharp twinge of pain from a doorwing caught his attention and cleared his mind for a moment. Just long enough to consider that maybe this wasn't a dream after all. In which case he was fragged....

And yet the other mech seemed just as interested in answers as he was himself, and hadn't he offered to help with the case? Of course technically he should be on the suspect list and that little escape he pulled did look terrible against him, but still Prowl felt that nagging sense that he could trust this mech. At least, insofar as one could be trusted when they knew how to get out of cuffs and broke into an Enforcer's home...

On that thought he returned his focus to the other. Perhaps playing this -as his fellow officers would call it- casual would keep the situation calm. "I wasn't planning anything for tonight other than recharge. I should be asking you that question as you're the one who entered my residence illegally. I should be arresting you and turning you in for that alone but instead I was going to have a nice, calm conversation with you because I don't desire a fight tonight. Now would you get off of me?"

“…That’s… better? I guess…” By that time he was just getting frustrated at himself for completely losing his cool, so it was high time to chill out. After once again removing himself from the other and standing up, he offered to help the mech up. “I’m not lookin’ fer a fight or anythin’ either. Jus’ a little jumpy right now.” He gave a sheepish apologetic smile. “I… Name’s Jazz by the way. Since I’ve managed a pretty terrible job ‘a introducing myself I hope ya don’t mind if I try ta start over.”

"Prowl," he answered to the unspoken question once he was back on his feet. At last he had a name to attach to the mech in question. And perhaps he could even use it to track down more information on this elusive individual. Assuming he hadn't changed designations at any point; not that doing so off the record was easy but enough determination got the job done. "Exactly how far back do you intend to 'start over' because both now and our initial meeting were equally inopportune."

That logic was pretty impossible to argue with. “In-opportunity doesn’t knock that often, or I guess, climb through yer window.” Jazz tried to make a joke to lighten the mood, there wasn’t much more he could do to ruin everything anyway. “I suppose right here’s as good ‘a place as any ta start over.” Or maybe back on the floor. That sounded pretty good too. His Energon deficiency was finally starting to affect him and even standing was starting to sound a little difficult. “So how ‘bout we get that Energon an’ get ta know each other a bit?”

A quick, hopefully discreet, once over revealed the other -Jazz, he had to remind himself that he knew his name now- seemed at least as exhausted as Prowl himself. At this point sharing some Energon might be the only way to keep the conversation going and he still had questions to ask.

Leading the way into the next room, Prowl made sure his every action was in full view as gathered up a cube for each of them. Lest Jazz possibly consider this an attempt to poison him or something. He certainly was twitchy enough, if previous events of the night were any indication. Gesturing to a small seating area, he spoke again before heading over to set both cubes on the table and sit down across from Jazz. "Pick a seat."

The "visiting" mech didn’t sit so much as fall into the offered chair, not wasting any time in snatching up the cube set before him. “Pretty nice place ya got.” Purposely neglecting to add ’I hope you don’t mind if I end up recharging on your chair accidently.’

Hopefully the officer didn’t notice his reluctance to bring up the only thing he had originally broke into the apartment to discuss. There was something nice about this serenity; The room seemed to have its own almost lounge-like tune just barely hidden under silence and it seemed almost a sin to disturb that tune.

It was a common practice for his fellow Enforcers to mock his inability to understand and get along with others, however this simply wasn't true. Prowl was actually quite adept at reading other bots and interpreting their subtle actions. An Enforcer didn't last long if they couldn't determine guilt or innocence, and he did have a remarkably high case closure rate. So no, if he did have an issue it lay solely in the social coding because as well as Prowl could read a mech or femme he was incapable of connecting with them on any sort of empathic level.

And so it was that Prowl could tell that Jazz was nigh on passing out and, though he knew it was proper social convention to offer him a place to spend the night, he found himself simply sitting in silence instead. Jazz didn't seem to have noticed -although he was rather sure he wouldn't have noticed if the whole place were melting around them in this state- but that hardly made the situation any less awkward. Prowl took a sip of Energon as he considered how best to proceed.

____________

It was difficult to believe he had actually slipped recharge at some strange mech’s place, but at least Jazz had a reason for onlining suddenly and not recognizing any of his surroundings. So much for self-preservation.

Well, there wasn’t much to do about it now. The black and which mech stretched out a bit more, trying to adjust himself from the rather awkward position he’d kept most of the night. “My frame’s gonna need a nice tune up if I’m going to keep havin’ dates like this.” He joked quietly to himself, trying to keep his mood light. Really though, maybe he did owe Prowl something after all the leniency the other bot had shown him, but that could be sorted out later.

"I wasn't aware breaking and entering was customary on a first date."

A cube of Engeron was set on the table beside Jazz and Prowl stepped around to the other side to watch Jazz and his reactions. It hadn't been too long that Jazz had been out but given how quickly he had fallen into recharge it was incredibly likely that he was extremely undercharged and in need of more sustenance. That it gave him a chance to further observe the intruding mech was only an added bonus.

Because waking up in unfamiliar territory wasn’t enough to unease Jazz, apparently the other mech had to try to scare him up the wall. “Still awake eh?” Play it cool, he didn’t see you jump. “Customary dates ain’t my style, an’ this is just a guess, but I don’t think it’s much your style either.” He gladly accepted the second cube, barely restraining himself from downing it all in one go.

"I fail to see how you would consider it even remotely proper to speculate on the condition of relationships that may or may not exist of those you don't even know. Especially when the one you are speculating about is the officer who has already arrested you once."

The mech couldn’t help but grin, finishing the energon cube in time for the other to finish his reply. “So you’re single.” He ventured, setting the cube down.

"I don't see why you should be privy to such information." His fellow Enforcers had joked he was bonded to the job but that was as close to a relationship as he had bothered to partake in. And it wasn't as though there hadn't been a few offers.

“No shame in that. I haven’t had much time fer anyone either.” As the conversation went on it was obvious that he was making himself more comfortable within the other’s apartment, legs slung over the side of the chair, as if he just belonged there. “Bet I could help ya, what’s yer type? I know almost everyone in this city.”

"Do you make a habit of being intentionally obtuse?" Prowl questioned back. Of course he knew that some bots could read others, but he wasn't used to anyone being able to read him at all much less this well. "Refusing to share information does not mean one does not have said information."

“Relax Prowler ‘m just tryin’ ta be helpful. Ya don’t have to get all defensive, I’ve heard it all an’ more.” The mech paused to glance around the room once more as though to gather bits of information on the mech in question. “Stop me if I’m goin’ too far, but my guess is yer avoidin’ an answer ‘cuz yer uncomfortable. Not too keen on lettin’ anyone else in yer life right?”

"About as much so as you are interested in pushing the boundaries of hospitality." Honestly, why he had let Jazz stay Prowl didn't even know. Although at least the lack of furnishings wouldn't betray much about him, he thought as he watched Jazz look around again. "And my name is Prowl."

Perhaps it was a bad idea to give him that second cube.

It was difficult to tell how far was too far with the other mech. Prowl did seem genuinely annoyed, but with the lack of action behind it, his words seemed more defensive than threatening.

“Not tryin’ ta push anything, I’m just curious. I like ta know about my friends an’ I think you could do with a little opening up. We could even take turns. I’ll tell ya a little about myself, than you tell me a little about yourself. Deal?”

It was an unusual and not uninteresting offer... "I fail to see how you and I would be considered 'friends'." He wasn't rejecting the deal, he just wasn't agreeing to it yet. "Nor how you would be qualified to know how much I open up at all."

“I didn’t hear a no, so I’ll go first.” He took a moment’s pause to try to think of some relevant fact about himself. “I quit working spec. ops. for the high council to be a bartender.” It was said with a bit of a shrug, as though it was almost entirely irrelevant information.

And just when Prowl was starting to think he might be figuring Jazz out, such a casually offered revelation throws his entire sense of understanding out the window.

First came interest. If Jazz had been employed in any area of government then there would be records that could be found and tracked. All you need is enough time or credits, and the right name.

Then came the disbelief. Surely a mech who had truly been special operations wouldn't ever reveal that he had been, regardless of how long ago it had been. Were special ops agents even allowed to retain the memory of their time as agents? Memory wipes were rare but hardly unheard of and the council could easily order it done.

Trust came next, bringing with it the interest again. Of course this had to be true. There was some underlying factor that he couldn't place letting him know Jazz was a 'good guy' as well as probably a decent mech. Special operations, known publicly for anti-terror mainly, were the ones to keep the cities safe from threats on a higher level than Enforcers dealt with. If they shared a relatively similar line of work that would be more than enough to trigger subconscious background acceptance protocols.

But Jazz already knew he worked as an Enforcer and everyone knows the rumors about Special Ops. It wouldn't be too hard to claim a background there and get quick one-time access to somewhere or thing because checking on that fact is an involved process that most bots don't bother to do.

Only someone with a history of checking backgrounds would know how long the process takes however, and that it occasionally got skipped if immediate access was required.

Still, some officers were too free on "useless" information so a lucky individual could gain pointless intel like that.

Although if one didn't have the skill to figure out which bots were most likely to let something slip...

Prowl didn’t seem to be hiding the fact that his processor was working pretty hard to take in that new information. No doubt the other didn’t believe him; Jazz wouldn’t have believed himself before having been accepted in. Unfortunately after far too long under the control of the council he was now well aware of the thinly hidden corruption behind all the secrecy and myth, the amount of disillusionment was shocking.

Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the best thing to lead with, but typically it was easier to get others to talk more if they think they know more about you than you know of them. Now though, it seemed like there would be a lot more questions than answers, he didn’t want questions. “It’s yer turn Prowler.” Punctuate that statement with a knowing smirk, and, the ball was back in Prowl’s court.

___________

A sharp pain knocked his processors temporarily out of the loop he'd gotten stuck in and Prowl might have inwardly groaned if he had the mental capacity. Logic loops (or rather illogical loops) were a rare but ever present concern, and while they could be avoided there was only one way he'd found to break them. Unfortunately it would put him completely out of commission for a short period, though if he did nothing then it would only spiral lower until serious damage might occur. Not to mention that the loop kept him unable to respond to or even notice outside stimuli.

He had only moments of functional awareness and before he could fall back into the mental loop, Prowl ran the 'kill code.' A few lines of coding that would drop him offline, cutting through all the thoughts that kept him stuck and auto waking him. It was a relatively quick process but, given no warning, witnesses often panicked. As the code activated, Prowl had a fleeting thought of worry over how this might affect Jazz but he was offline before he could save or analyze the sensation.

____________

Well, that was new. “You alright man? I’ve had to deal with enough weirdness for one day.” The other mech hadn’t been offline for a nanoklick before Jazz reacted, springing from the chair to catch him, as well as make sure he was still functioning. The absolute last thing he needed now was to be at the scene of another untimely deactivation.

It was soon obvious that the other was still functioning, so that was one less worry. Now the only thing to worry about was what to do with the offlined bot until he, well, came back. The visored mech shook his head, before starting towards Prowl’s berth, half-dragging the aforementioned bot with him. “Everything’s gotta be weird with you.” He mock-complained, chuckling a bit.

After getting the enforcer in, what seemed like a comfortable position he set about dragging the chair he had previously been lounging in into the room, then getting back to said lounging, trying to keep an optic on the offlined mech in case… of something.

_____________

Prowl knew something was off as he cycled back online. His sense of gravity was pulling wrong for one thing. A crash always had a mildly disorienting feeling but this was incredibly different from the usual. As he became more aware of sensations outside himself, Prowl was further confused by the uneven weight of the atmosphere pressing against him. As the haze lifted in his processor it finally hit him he must be lying down but he was rather certain he hadn’t fallen.

He waited a while longer, until he was sure he could think as clearly as ever again, before he onlined his optics. His guess about laying down was naturally correct but how had he gotten back to his berth? Only when he sat up did he finally notice Jazz was still around. An unusual feeling surged through him but he pushed it down to focus on the situation. Yet he couldn’t decide what to talk about or how to broach a topic so he decided to let Jazz start first.

“Hey there, feelin’ better?” It didn’t take too long for Jazz to notice that the other was online again, especially since watching Prowl seemed to have been the focus of the night. “Ya kinda just shut down on me.” He explained, going over to more closely check on the mech. Talking wouldn’t do any good if he was still having troubles processing anything. “That happen often?”

“It occurs more frequently than I would like but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” All true but nothing too informative. “It’s not something most know about but neither is it a secret in any conventional sense. All tactical units have the possibility of this same glitch.” And there. Just enough information to catch his interest, hopefully. “But I do believe it’s your turn to reveal more.”

“Well played.”

Jazz sat on the berth by Prowl, before leaning his head back and humming, trying to figure out what to say next. “Sure you’re not gonna go haywire again?” he joked, buying a bit more time to think, his processor having crossed over from ‘answer questions’ mode to more interesting details about his present company. If it wasn’t obvious enough before, this small tidbit of information almost guaranteed that the Enforcer was a Praxian. That made him kind of a rare commodity with most of Praxus entirely slagged by Decepticons.

He hadn’t bothered to register if Prowl had answered before finally coming up with something to say. “D’ya wanna know more because you don’t believe me? Or because ya do. If ya wanna know how I got into the job, its ‘cuz I’m good at getting into places I don’t belong.” His gaze moved to the window he’d come in through before going back to the other. “Ya got a taste of that already.”

There was a minor pause as he decided if it was worth it to continue on before explaining more. “I didn’t get ta work the glamorous side, savin’ bots an’ playing hero, nah, I was just there to make sure everyone else played nice.” It seemed like a good enough way to summarize his last job description, a lot nicer than what he’d actually been tasked to do.

Prowl didn’t speak when Jazz moved much closer than he normally allowed anyone, nor when he teased about the glitch. He did nod once when Jazz mentioned breaking in but otherwise he simply sat and listened. It seemed to him that if he was interrupted Jazz might decide not to share anything after all and so he let him say his peace. In the end it wasn’t too much but Prowl felt compelled to reciprocate anyway.

“I haven’t quite decided if I do believe you or not,” he began slowly. “That’s why I ‘went haywire’ as you put it.” He paused to collect his thoughts in order to explain. “The tactical programming is designed to attempt to look at a situation from every possible angle and analyze every detail for the best possible plans. Occasionally though, it will act up on an unrelated situation; one where solid facts are few if any and exceedingly rare. Often these lead to contradictory, yet equally likely scenarios which are then pit against one another much like a battle simulation might be enacted. Since the subject matter is subjective rather than quantitative however, this leads to a back and forth cycle that can and will lead into a downwards spiral. I’ve known a few who went mad from this process, though most simply burn out; their processors or their spark, whichever is weaker.

“It can be stopped before it starts but I have to always be on guard for those potential situations and even then one can sneak up. This is actually the first event since my early days as an Enforcer.”

Jazz nodded along with the conversation, as though even half of what was being said made any sort of sense to him. Sure, the idea was sound, but trying to imagine what it was like was hurting his processor.

“I’ve had a few bots tell me that I drive ‘um crazy, but I think you’re the first I actually succeeded with. So, should we switch to a little Q an’ A? Get down to the real facts we want to know about each other? I’m curious about you, an’ you can’t hide that yer curious about me anymore.” He’d turned a bit to watch Prowl, instead of staring at the ceiling, which wasn’t any good on giving him new information.

“I’ll even let ya go first. Ask anythin’ ya want and I’ll answer as best I can. Who knows maybe I’ll finally convince you.”

Prowl stiffened ever so slightly and his doors hitched a little higher on his back. He'd revealed far more than he should have to a stranger already and things seemed to be getting a little too personal. It was time to attempt to backtrack if he could.

"The only interest I have in you is what information you know that could aid my case. Before I go following any stray detail you may mention however I need to determine how trustworthy you might be so I advise you to answer all my questions anyway. I do still have the authority to have you arrested and labeled a suspect.

"As long as you remember that, we have no problems. Now..." There was a long list of things he should ask and an even longer one of things he could ask but Prowl didn't even know what question one he decided on until he heard himself asking it. "Why would you leave such a high ranking job to become part of the masses?"

“Why ya gotta be like that? I thought we were gettin’ along nice.” It seemed to be quite an abrupt change for the Enforcer, but a quick survey of the other told him all he needed to know. It was probably best to play this straight, or risk alienated the officer.

“I ain’t got a simple answer for that, but that job wasn’t mah scene. The spec. ops you see an’ the spec. ops I see are two very different creatures, dig?” This certainly wasn’t an easy subject to talk around without giving away too much information. Jazz felt no loyalty towards the job itself, but had every ounce of loyalty for the bots he had worked with and betraying too much information meant betraying them. “Somewhere along the lines they stopped doin’ what’s good for the people an’ started doin’ what’s good for themselves. I ain’t about to risk my life jus’ ta make some senators' bank account look more impressive.”

Prowl nodded once. So those rumors were true. Of course any talk of Special Operations was minimal and rare, but one heard many things while working the streets. There was a great deal left unsaid but he wouldn’t be entirely too surprised to learn the operatives had some sort of fail safe programming installed so they literally couldn’t talk about specifics. 

“And you ended up as a bartender because...?”

“I like information.” Jazz gave a small laugh before continuing his explanation. “I’ve learned more from bots who’ve had a little too much high-grade than I ever did sneakin’ around or interrogatin’. Bots like ta talk, I like ta listen.” Well most bots… except the one right beside him apparently, but really it was all about figuring out what Prowl liked to talk about.

As the other spoke more and more, Prowl started to feel a bit guilty for pulling the Enforcer card but he pushed the feeling aside. Now was not the time to miss something while he was trying to be compassionate. That, however, didn’t stop his demeanor from softening around the edges again. “You hardly seem like one who could stand listening instead of speaking.”

It was a relief to hear the other make a joke. Despite his light demeanor, Jazz fully understood what sort of danger he was in the middle of, that danger being the mech right beside him. At a whim Prowl had full right to kill him, but, some risks were necessary. “I could show you my impeccable listening skills if ya wanna share what brought you to Iacon in the first place.” He retaliated, trying to make his question seem casual so as to not betray just how much interest he had in the officer, or rather what he knew about Praxus.

“It’s hardly an interesting tale,” Prowl replied. And really it wasn’t. At least not the parts he could actually confirm and he wasn’t about to spread hearsay.

“Orders came in from Iacon,” he began. “Now generally Praxus didn’t do transfers but apparently whoever made the request had enough clout to force the matter. Rumor had it that only the ‘best of the best’ were being requested, Praxus wasn’t the only city to receive such, for some secret plotting or some other nonsense but I assure you nothing interesting came of the move for me.” The last wasn’t exactly true. Crime in Praxus had been generally run of the mill, tickets and fines with only a rare case of vandalism. There had been a natural harmony in the city that few dared break in any way. Leaving had introduced him to far more interesting and complicated crimes, and criminals, and it was a challenge he relished.

“Hardly a story worth the time it takes to tell.”

That took quite a bit of mysticism away from the topic, though original curiosity about the other mech’s place of origin was replaced by curiosity about Prowl himself. Best of the best? Well, just how good was he?

“Far as I‘m concerned a short story’s a good story for life. Anythin’ more belongs in fiction.” It was difficult to extract anything out of the other’s story other than what the words themselves told him. Was it disinterest? Disconnection? An attempt to hide something? Or maybe he was just putting too much thought into the whole thing.

There wasn’t anything he could really say to that so Prowl simply nodded once. Jazz seemed distracted now, but given the special ops training - that is, if he really had been, Prowl reminded himself - he was likely looking for any anomalies. For just a nanoclick Prowl wondered if he had said anything that might come off as a slip-up but no, his style of speech was too direct for much deceit. 

As the silence stretched on, Prowl considered questioning Jazz on what he knew of the murder but decided against it. He had already shared his job and there was only one bar functional enough to have an actual staff anymore, coincidentally - or not so much - located right beside the crime scene. And if Jazz wanted to keep himself looking innocent he’d have to be willing to answer the same questions during an official interview. and just like that the thought of work reminded him of the time and he checked his internal chronometer apprehensively. If he were any other mech he might have groaned about how late it was, but he wasn’t so he didn’t.

And so the silence continued to stretch on awkwardly. Jazz had expected the other to reply, or even possibly question the 'incident' that had prompted their meeting in the first place. Was there some reason Prowl hadn't pursued the subject? Maybe he was concerned with admissibility? But, as far as the bartender was concerned he'd rather none of this end up on any official records to save himself the hassle.

He was sure the topic wasn't going to be willingly approached by the other, and with his own hesitations, it seemed like a perfect time to leave and regroup for a better approach.

"Well then..." he started, stretching in an exaggerated fashion. "Unless you have room on tha' berth fer me, I really oughta head on home."

He didn't allow any time for a reply before he was at the window to leave, only pausing to add "see ya soon Prowler," before disappearing into the night.

The other mech was gone before Prowl completely processed some of his last words and he was left staring at the opened window wondering why Jazz hadn’t just used the door... 

It made no sense to make any comment when he was, supposedly, alone so the Enforcer was remained silent as he crossed the room and shut the window. He did pause a moment to wonder if locking it was even worth the effort but did so in the end, just in case it might actually deter any other potential entrance. Then he was headed back to to the berth to try and get more recharge. There was an important case to be worked on in the morn and it wouldn’t do to not put his entire concentration on the task.


	2. Investigation: Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, let me just say that I loved coming up with the various Cybertronian phrases in this chapter. My favorite is probably the approximation of 'when Hell freezes over' but they were all great fun to create. Secondly, never ever trust a Jazz muse for anything.... And third, this chapter is the first of why our rating is as it is. Enjoy!

Logic dictated that they begin the search in the blocks directly surrounding the crime scene so Prowl ordered both teams to canvas the area. Each team only had two mechs, but the neighborhood had been derelict and mostly abandoned for vorns. Besides, the officers in this precinct were far from rookies.  
  


Hence Prowl and his partner standing at the entrance to Maccadm's Oil House, the only surviving bar and best kept building on the block only a few short breems after the orn began.

___________

  
The workday began like any other, well, except for the nagging want to just slip into recharge in any available corner. Despite the dull ache starting in his processor at having managed to only recharge for who knows how long at a stranger's place Jazz kept up pace; trying to seem as polite and nonchalant as usual.    
When there was finally a lull in bar patrons the black and white mech gave himself a chance to relax, slumping in a nearby chair until the next customers showed up...

As if on cue the door alarm sounded, saying someone was entering. Instead of complaining, loudly, like he really wanted to the black and white mech jumped off the chair to greet his new costumers.

"Welcome to-"

Frag... Upon noticing just /who/ one of the 'customers' was Jazz lost the ability to finish his sentence, instead just standing there trying to process what to do next. He barely missed a beat to fix the little slip-up. "What can I do ya for, gents?"

There was a pronounced sway in the mech's hips as he sauntered to the bar table to take their orders, making sure to lean in over the table. If Prowl was going to try to interrogate him or something he'd make sure to to make his attempt as difficult as possible.  
  
"Enforcers are coded to resist such temptations," Prowl's partner commented a few moments late, when it became clear he'd have to step up to the conversation first. Prowl could be amazing at piecing the information together but in the actual interactions with the masses he still needed a lot of work. Such as now, where he was giving that expressionless look of surprise at the situation. Like he didn't already know that most bars were run on the mindset that those coming in wanted a distraction. "Or do you just flaunt it like that for all your customers?"  
  
"Temptations?" the bartender asked, sounding as innocent as he could. "I would never!" It was all attention he afforded to the far less interesting officer before turning to the other. "So, can I interest you in anything? I'm very skilled..." He paused momentarily before finishing with, "at mixing energon... 

"What's yer taste?  We aim ta please." After that Jazz turned back to the officer who he had spoken to before to add a little jab of "s' only good business to be polite." His words were far more icy than from how he'd been talking before, but not so much as to be openly hostile.  
  
Allowing the other two to converse for a moment had aided him in collecting his wits once more and so when the officers were finally given the chance to speak again it was Prowl who spoke up, cutting off his partner's attempt before it could lead to annoyance. "If such is the case then surely you'd be willing to answer our questions. And I should advise you to refrain from your implications because this conversation could be performed just as easily back at the station."  
  
"I'm sure this conversation could happen in quite a few places." Jazz refrained from using a flirty tone, trying to keep the implications to a minimum, yet also to remind the other of the fact that they'd already had ample time to talk not too long ago. "So wha'dya wanna know?" he asked before turning away to grab a few containers for energon. "An' wha' can I get you? On tha house of course."  
  
Both officers opted for just standard Energon and waited in the relative silence until Jazz had completed his task and was fully focused on them once more.  
  
Prowl took the lead again, as he should have initially, and brought out a datapad with an image of the dead mech. “To start with, we need to know anything you might know about this mech and his whereabouts in the previous orn.”  
  
Jazz glanced at the datapad before looking back at Prowl, staring intently as though the other would give some hint as to whether he was actually looking for the truth or if this was some sort of ruse. "Ah know 'a the guy." He admitted, finally just picking something to serve the officers and busying himself with readying the mix.

  
"Comes in here now an' then. Not too good with his high grade. Gets kinda ornery." He served the two their energon before finishing up. "What about 'im?" He snuck in a small smirk at the other monochrome mech just to see if he would react.  
  
Prowl offered back a quick glare, cut short when his partner glanced his way too. “We have reason to believe he was murdered, and that the culprit frequents this establishment. So who would you say held a grudge against him? A mech like that tends to make several enemies whether drunk or not.”  
  
"I dunno if 'm gonna be much help. I mean, I've seen 'im arguing with a few bots but murder? Tha's a few steps above mah pay grade. I only serve the drinks an make sure the fights stay outside." Jazz glanced at the other officer before turning back to Prowl, managing to brush against him as he pushed the energon forward as though to remind him it had been there. "I'd like ta be more helpful so if ya think'a anythin' else I can do ya know where ta find me."  
  
“If you would give us descriptions and designations of those he argued with that would be a start,” Prowl replied. “Although any other information you have related to this mech would be a great service to the state. Certainly someone in your position would know have plenty of such information.”  
  
"Worse anythin's ever came to was I had ta pull Grittrap offa him once, but a few brawls don't lead ta murder, jus hurt feelin's and a few dents." His gaze never once left the other, even as he spun his story. It was all truth, just not all the truth. "My position? Sure I hear a few things now an' then, high grade gets bots talkin a lot more, but it ain't mah job to police around here, it's yers so I'll leave that ta you."  
  
“It would do you well to remember that those few officers not claimed by the war effort are the only reason a place such as this is even able to make an attempt at being operational. And while we do the best service we can provide for this city, we are no longer so numerous as to know every dirty secret told in every nook and cranny of the dregs of the state.”  
  
"An some of us jus' wanna make an honest livin' without gettin' messed up in somethin' that ain't got anythin' ta do with them," Jazz replied sharply, before leaning in close to the officer. "Ah paid my price," he whispered. "An I ain't gettin' my name get caught up in this. You want any info, you get it my way." He spared a glance just to make sure Prowl's partner hadn't heard, or at least reacted like he'd heard any of it.  
  
The other officer looked between his partner and the bartender, confused. “Is there something I’m missing here?”  
  
“Nothing at all,” Prowl answered, tearing his gaze from Jazz. “We’re done here for now, let’s go.”  
  
He stood and started for the door. His partner was left to collect the datapad with the victim’s image and follow after. It wasn’t until they were outside before he could begin to ask his questions.  
  
“The Pit was that about?”  
  
"He was being remarkably uncooperative and probably hiding information but there was no point in continuing. If he even knew anything at all it's nigh impossible he would willing tell us and all an arrest would do is tie up our resources back at the station."  
  
The other mech studied Prowl, and though he knew that wasn't the whole of it, he couldn't get a proper enough read on what the other Enforcer was keeping under wraps. In the end he decided not to comment on it and hope it wouldn't come back to bite them like a scraplet later on.  
  
___________  
  
It wasn't long after the Enforcers had left that a 'closed' sign appeared on the door of Maccadam's and Jazz was back to flexing his skills at tailing someone else. If Prowl wanted to play hardball , he'd get a match like he's never seen.

  
This time the mech played it as safe as he could, keeping out of sight and only focusing on body language to translate the situation. No point to risk getting close to hear what they were saying when Prowl's more inadequate partner was spilling the beans with body language alone.  
  
__________  
  
The rest of the afternoon was spent canvassing further areas of the neighborhood, what little there was of it, in an ever expanding circular pattern. After about mid cycle however they stopped running into anyone who knew the victim and by the cycle's end they knew literally nothing more than at the midway point. It wasn't quite a wasted day but Prowl certainly felt as if it was. Especially odd was the fact this was the first time he'd actually felt such in the vorns he'd done this work. And it had nothing to do with the almost no conversation at all that he and his partner had done after visiting the bar, but everything to do with the mech they'd run across there.  
  
He didn't even know how or why it was Jazz could rile him up so easily where no one else could usually manage.  
  
Resolutely he pushed that thought, and all thoughts of Jazz, out of his mind as he headed home. It was late, though not insanely so, but they had found no leads all day and were still waiting on the complete forensics report so there was nothing keeping the officers tied to the station. Tonight at least. Turning his thoughts to what information might be uncovered by the report, Prowl made a mental reminder to carefully check every door and window was closed and locked before he turned in to recharge.  
  
___________  
  
It was soon made obvious that tailing the Enforcers weren't going to yield any useful information, so the ex-Ops agent decided to change tactics and find information in a much more productive way.

  
He was a bit surprised that he'd managed to find the other's place so quickly after the convoluted route he had taken to get there he first time, but there it was. Maybe he'd get lucky with the window again? That didn't matter so much this time though since this time he came prepared.

  
The only difficult part of breaking into the officer's house was acting as though he belonged there with the random bots walking around going about their business. The window lock didn't stand a chance though and it took less than a klick to get in. After that it was just to crawl in and re-lock the window before subspacing his equipment again and setting about the snooping.

  
Jazz was more than happy about  Prowl's possibly OCD tendencies towards keeping everything in his place in immaculate order, as it made going through things a lot faster and easier. As well as simplifying replacing any objects perfectly after he was finished with them.

  
Within 10 klicks, as counted down from a timer he'd set upon entering the house, he had gone through anything deemed possibly important and moved on to more obscure possible hiding places for dirt or something telling about this mysterious mech. By the time 20 klicks had passed the entire place had been all but turned upside down and of course righted again.

  
A combination of frustration and pure exhaustion prompted the bartender to find a secure place to tuck himself into in order to wait for the other so they could properly finish their conversation. Eventually he found a closet that offered a big enough top shelf to hold him as he settled into as comfortable a position as possible before drifting into a well needed recharge, not allowing his audio receptors to fully offline so he could be alerted when Prowl had finally arrived.  
  
___________  
  
In an unusual move, Prowl opted to keep some of his work paraphernalia, namely his stasis cuffs and firearm, with him as he prepared for recharge. Though he’d made sure to lock everything tonight and mostly kept the infuriating ex-Spec Ops agent out of his processor, he still had a sense of foreboding. The case on it’s own would have been complicated enough as of now, but add in such an unpredictable force as Ja-the former agent represented and that compounded troubles at least a thousand-fold.  
  
Firmly shutting the berthroom door, with only slightly more force than strictly necessary, Prowl pushed those thoughts away and tried to focus on the plan for tomorrow. The sole known ‘witness’ would be in around mid-cycle to answer questions. Generally that was done the first day but with how few officers were on the case it had been necessary to push back so no clues were lost to the environment. With a quick last check to be sure his tools were within near reach, just as a precaution, Prowl then turned in for the night.  
  
___________  
  
Jazz had somehow missed hearing the Enforcer until he had slammed, or at least rather noisily, shut a door. He stretched as much as his small space would allow before rolling off of his perch and opening the closet door. He then crept to the other's berthroom, pressing his audials against the door to listen for any signs of activity. Even though there was no discernible signs of life in the room he continued to wait and listen for a stretch of time before finally allowing himself to enter the room.  
  
A quick survey told him that he didn't need to worry about catching the other mech's attention any time soon. A good opportunity to mentally rehearse exactly how he was going to try to make up for the earlier spat. He hadn't meant to let it go that far, but something about the officer seemed to get past his otherwise perfectly built wall of self control and self preservation to the point of him allowing his emotions to direct his actions; something that would have otherwise gotten him killed in many past scenarios.  
  
It hadn't taken too long to cobble together a plan before approaching the other, only pausing slightly when he took notice of firearm within reach of Prowl. Well he had made a much worse impression during their little talk than he had thought. Too bad he had messed up any report he had begun to establish during their second meeting the night before.  
  
Almost casually he slid the gun out of the monochrome mech's reach. He didn't want to remove all sense of control, so he left the stasis cuffs. Being "caught" was a lot better than getting shot. Once any potentially deadly dangers were removed the ex-Ops set up his plan to wake the other without getting caught right away, consisting of tying a bit of string that he had brought around a loose datapad sitting by the berth, then keeping the string slack as he found a place that would keep him just hidden enough to not be noticed right away before yanking the string and causing the datapad to fall the floor with a very audible clang. That should do it to wake him.  
  
Surprisingly for his frame type, Prowl was quite acclimated to sleeping around and through rather loud sounds and so the clatter of the datapad caused barely a flicker of his doorwings. If there was an actual threat he could generally count on specialty programming to alert him. Not always, but usually.  
  
There was a moment of surprise when Prowl barely responded to his attempt to wake him. "Don't like making things easy." Jazz sighed quietly to himself. There was no way to pin down even how he felt about the other at this point. He was still curious along with infuriated, confused, and most surprising of all was how this bot he hardly knew managed to gain his respect so quickly.

  
Jazz pulled the datapad all the way to himself  before untying it and re-subspacing the string. 'Lets see you sleep through this' was his last thought before chucking the datapad as hard as he could at the wall across from him, managing to knock over whatever little trinkets or personal belongings Prowl had on a table by the wall. Most likely something to do with the academy or medals for his work...

  
Well... He officially met the qualifications for breaking and entering now.  
  
The shattering rang across his sensors, jarring the Praxian awake with a bit of a jolt. Immediately he was out of the berth and scanning the room visually for an intruder. His first active thought was to wonder how anyone had gotten in now, his second to reach for his gun and third to mentally curse himself for leaving it in the other room.  
  
The visored mech waited for a sign that the other had calmed down before alerting the officer to his presence. "Sorry," he started with, tentatively moving out of the shadows for Prowl to recognize him. "Didn't wanna get attacked when I woke ya... An' mah first attempt didn't work too well." Jazz gave a bit of a sheepish smile, emphasizing a sense of passiveness about himself trying to keep everything about himself as far away from hostile threat as possible.  
  
Of course it was the bartender. It was always him. Just what did he find so interesting that he absolutely refused to leave him alone, Prowl couldn’t even begin to venture a guess.  
  
“What do you want?” the Enforcer demanded, the low rumble of a not-quite growl in his tone. This mech was so infuriating. Sneaking into his home, resisting even his most polite requests, actually managing to rile him up where no one could ever make the attempt... It’d be so wonderful to finish this case and get rid of him, although Prowl had to wonder if he would even be able to lose him then.  
  
Somehow it was still surprising to hear the hostility in the Enforcer's voice. Clearly his passiveness wasn't working the way he'd hoped. "Ta start working on the case." He replied simply , giving up his passiveness since it wasn't working. He slipped back to casual Jazz, ready to put all his cards on the table if need be. "Doubt you've managed to dig anythin' up right? Tha's 'cuz this wasn't just a murder, it was a message." He paused to read the other's reaction, not daring to say anything more if the information antagonized Prowl further.  
  
Prowl lightened up his stance just enough to show he was willing to listen, but never moved out of a combat ready pose. If what he was being told was true that would complicate things even further, and that was just about the last thing Prowl wanted right now. (The top spot was tied between getting dragged into the war and needing to put up with Jazz much longer.)  
  
“And this is what you meant by ‘getting information your way’ then? Using your old contacts and resisting casual questioning in the interest of solving a murder?”  
  
There was one small victory, at least he'd captured the officer's interest. "I ain't gonna resist now. But nothin' I say or do is goin' on anything official," Jazz explained. "Have at me, but I recommend none a' what I got to say ends up in the hands a' any a' yer co-workers. If yer as good as you say it'll be easy fer you to prove or disprove any information I got." He kept his cool even as the atmosphere seemed to tense up. It was typically never a good idea to implicate anyone on the force was crooked but to say it to an Enforcer was a risk he could only hope wouldn't lead to any unpleasant repercussions for him.  
  
“And how can I know that anything you tell me is the truth? I didn’t know if I could trust you before but you’re definitely working on making the answer to that into a steadfast ‘no’ with all your insane antics and now you want me to cut my team out of the picture entirely. Who are you to think you can decide who I trust with what knowledge?”  
  
Prowl stopped short when he realized he’d been stalking closer to Jazz as he went off on him. It was hardly the first time they’d been close, closer even than the current arm’s length away, and it startled him how easy closing the space seemed to be. Normally Kaon would be the planet’s cultural center before he let anyone, other than a select few, get so close.  
  
"I ain't tellin' ya who to trust." Jazz had to focus on exactly what he was saying, because at this point he was getting very mixed signals from this confusing, frustrating mech and it was doing quite a number on his processor. "I'm tellin' you to figure that out fer yerself." Between their sudden closeness and the hostility in the other's words it almost seemed as though the officer was looking for some sort of power play. Making such a big assumption about the unreadable mech certainly wasn't the best option, but at this point Prowl had pushed him to the point of needing to take action and if he wasn't going to frag the Enforcer he was going to try to beat some sense into him. He wanted to go with the less illegal sounding one. 

  
Jazz didn't give the other any warning before jumping the doorwinged mech. This was becoming a familiar scenario he couldn't help but muse as he once again found himself straddling Prowl. He leaned in close to the other's audials before all but purring. "I can think of a few ways to turn that no into a yes." The words were followed by an almost playful lick before his demeanor turned more serious. He sensually pressed himself closer to the Praxian as he allowed himself to release his grip on Prowl's wrists to play along any possibly sensitive spot he could find as he traced up the other's arms, finally stopping at his shoulders, hesitant to go for the doorwings. He'd not managed to get this far, or really done anything, with a Praxian before, but if knowledge served from his stints with flyer types he could make him feel really good.  
  
Of all the things he had been expecting to happen, this was most certainly not even close to on the list. In the space of a mere nanoclick, Prowl found himself once again beneath Jazz. This time was different from the last though and he felt his core temperature begin to rise even before he heard Jazz’s voice up close. For a moment he felt the overwhelming rush that preceded a mental lock-up but it was washed away before he could even push it out of his mind as gentle touches danced along his plating.  
  
Only when Jazz paused was Prowl able to regain enough conscious thought to comment. “Of all the reasons I could arrest you, this is probably the most serious. Enforcers don’t take it well when one of our own is molested.”  
  
All Jazz could manage was an "Oh." It felt as though his spark had dropped down into his tanks. Ok... ok... ok... He'd managed out of worse blunders than this, but with everything else he just couldn't get anything to work in his possessor. The only thing he could actually manage was berating himself for his actions, not even a solution to get out of this mess. What did he possibly hope to accomplish by being this dumb?  
  
Still, despite how obvious it was by the officer's words that he did NOT want this Jazz couldn't ignore feeling the other's frame heat up with wanting. Maybe Prowl was just trying to confuse him until he offlined or something?  
  
"I.... I'll refrain from making any more assumptions like this from now on." It wasn't exactly what he wanted to say or how he wanted to say it, but at this point jumping off the tallest building in Iacon seemed preferable to what he had ended up subjecting them both to.  
  
It would be so simple to remove himself from the floor, send Jazz away and pretend this had never happened. Or to get the information he supposedly needed for the case. Or even to arrest Jazz as he should have yesterday, before half the reasons to arrest him even came up. At least, any of those options should have been simple. Instead Prowl found himself finally making sense of some of his recent confusion and decided he may as well take the chance. It wasn’t as if the situation wasn’t already a pure chaotic mess.  
  
“Assumptions, yes... you should definitely avoid those...” he murmured before reaching up to grasp Jazz’s waist, in case he decided to try and get up from a position the Enforcer had decided was rather appealing. “Asking is a far simpler way to determine interest.”  
  
Sometime between being frozen in fear, and then suddenly feeling his own frame react to Prowl touching him Jazz had decided to just stop trying to figure it out altogether. Whatever the Praxian was playing at he was determined to get some enjoyment out of it too.  
  
When he'd found his voice again he managed to ask the first question he could think of. "Do you want this?" He refused to move until the other answered, but tightened his grip on Prowl's shoulders, trying to get just a bit of this sudden chaos into focus.  
  
“I wouldn’t be offering if I didn’t,” Prowl answered honestly. He made no move to continue their exploration yet though, that could wait until Jazz was reassured of himself. “I do, however, advise you start to distract me again before logic can kick in and list the myriad ways this is a horrible idea given our current situation.”  
  
With that encouragement Jazz tentatively continued his exploration of the other, bracing himself with a servo whilst using the other to trace the top edge of the Praxian's doorwing. He used the doorwing as a distraction allowing himself to focus on Prowl's sensitive neck cabling, licking at the vital cords before momentarily pausing as if to silently remind the other that with just one bite he could cause irreparable damage. He didn't want the Enforcer to confuse who exactly was in control, but at the same time he felt as though he would do anything to get Prowl to just keep touching him.  
  
Oh, and what a distraction he was... Prowl couldn’t help the soft sounds that escaped him as Jazz traced along such delicate areas. It was almost too much for him to remember to attempt to return the sensation and run his servos along the other’s sides and chest plating; seeking out whatever sensitive points he could find.  
  
The black and white mech leaned into the other's touch, at first accidentally brushing their interface panels together, but the more needy encore was very much on purpose. His ex-venting was noticeably audible by this time as he struggled to cool his systems. Jazz looked up from the cable he'd been all but worrying with his denta, trying to wordlessly ask just how far Prowl wanted to go because he'd long since lost any inhibitions he might have had.  
  
“You had better not be planning to stop now,” Prowl managed when he could. “I didn’t have you pegged as such a tease.” Not waiting for Jazz, or perhaps just out of his own desire, he rolled his hips, pushing up against the other even as his servos kept exploring his frame.  
  
Jazz couldn't hold back a moan at the other's motions, vocalizer betraying him. When he'd gained a bit of focus back his attention was turned to those tantalizing doorwings, finally finding the resolution to fully explore them.  
  
"If ya want more ya gotta open up." He teased, not wanting to be the one to give in first. Hopefully Prowl wasn't aware at just how unraveled the visored mech was becoming from his touches, or how he was beginning to feel like he would do anything for more.  
  
The only reason, the absolutely only reason, Prowl didn’t comply any faster was his inability to focus thanks to Jazz’s ministrations to his wings. There was nothing but waves of pleasure coming from them and it took an impossible effort to find and send the command for his panel to open. He did manage to vocalize a single word, but it was almost too breathless to matter. “Jazz...”  
  
The officer practically moaning his name was what auto-commanded his own panel open, his need becoming almost unbearable. He paced himself long enough to feel his way down the Praxian's frame to his waiting valve, slowly inserting first one digit, than another.

  
"Mmmm, I'd like ta hear tha' again."  
  
His vocaliser hitched into a gasp and it took another try to respond. “You’ll get...ah... what you earn...” Not that he was doing a bad job earning all sorts of things in Prowl’s mind. The Praxian already felt quite ready, but he hadn’t realized just how much he wanted -no, needed- the other inside him until then.  
  
When Jazz finally couldn't take the wait any longer he pulled the teasing digits out, grasping the other mech's hips to help ease himself into Prowl's waiting valve. There was no attempt to stop the deep purr of satisfaction he gave at the sensation. Everything else faded into a static-y blur as he thrust into the Enforcer, there was only this, only... "Prowl..."  
  
His name came in conjuncture with a thrust that hit just right and the Enforcer let his pleasure show with a deep moan. He could only manage the other’s name. “Jazz..” There was no way he’d last much longer like this.  
  
Jazz was already so close to overload that focusing on the other's pleasure was all he could do to keep himself from going over the edge. When he had found just the right pace he released his hold on the other's hips, tracing that enticing frame back up to his wings. He gently brushed against them before continuing on to stabilize himself on the floor, moaning the name of the mech below him one last time as he let his overload consume him.  
  
The touch on his wings alone, already incredibly sensitized, would have been enough to send him over the edge. With Jazz deep inside him when the touch came it was more than he could stand. His valve clenched around Jazz’s spike as overload claimed him, so powerful that it knocked him offline.  
  
Jazz took a few extra klicks to steal a secret kiss from the other mech before collecting himself and quickly heading for the window. There was an immense amount of guilt about just leaving like that, but, well, the Enforcer was quite a lot to deal with on a regular basis and Jazz was pretty sure he was going to get slagged once the mech came to his senses anyway.  
  
He quietly snuck out the window, making sure to close it again behind him before heading out into the night, wanting to take a long drive to clear his processor. It felt like he was messing up everything recently and needed to get himself back on track.  
  
___________  
  
When Prowl came to after a short time, his first thoughts went back to the other mech. “Jazz, I...” He let the sentence trail off when he noticed that he was seemingly alone again. Picking himself up off the floor, he considered the odds it was only a dream but there was enough evidence to support it being real. Well, it only served him right for putting his trust in a bot he had literally 0 reasons to trust. Right after said mech had just told him not to trust anyone too.  
  
A quick check of the windows revealed one unlocked and he corrected that, for what little it mattered. There was still the matter of the mess Jazz made of his few possessions, along with another mess, but he would leave that until the morning. Right now he just wanted to head into recharge and see if recent events would make more sense with a defrag cycle.

**Author's Note:**

> Story time!
> 
> So, this past Friday morning I was woken up at 5am by Usagi after she broke into my apartment and all but pounced on me in my bed to hug me because 'I wasn't dead'. (She didn't notice me under my blanket at first apparently and searched the whole apartment to find me, even checking in the bathtub because maybe I had commited suicide or something? I dunno, I'm just retelling how she explained her thoughts.) We then proceeded to hang out for almost three hours until I had to go to work and she went to bed because she'd just gotten off work, but in that time I fed her twice and she nearly fell asleep in her chair at the table. She also complained at me for the door wrecking the card she used to get it open, because it's totally my fault she tried to break in because I had the door locked when I live downtown. Anyway...
> 
> At one point the last scene of this chapter crossed my mind and I mentioned it to her and ran down a quick compare and it got us both laughing so hard. Not in the least of reasons being that she put this on hold two months ago and it'd been out of both our minds for at least the past month (and only because family issues distracted me.) 
> 
> Life does like to mimic art sometimes after all.


End file.
